Done well, loyalty programs can help drive more frequent visits and heavier purchasing. More than seven in 10 global respondents (72%) agree that, all other factors equal, they’ll buy from a retailer with a loyalty program over one without.

Consumers around the world are increasingly focused on clean eating and the benefits of eating more healthfully, with 70% of global respondents saying they actively make dietary choices to help prevent health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol and hypertension.

Global consumer confidence remained stable in the first quarter and below the optimism baseline score of 100, edging up one index point to 98. The score reflected mixed confidence levels reported in every region.

Modern retail has long been guided by a powerful premise: the bigger, the better. But the retail landscape is shifting, and this mantra no longer holds true in all cases. This report explores the pain and pleasure points in global consumers' shopping experiences.

Global consumer confidence ended 2015 on a subdued note as the index declined two points from the third quarter to 97—the same score as the start of the year. Europe was the only region to show consistent confidence improvements throughout the year across all three indicators (job prospects, personal finances and intentions to buy).

Global consumer confidence increased three index points in the third quarter to 99, the highest level since 2006, and optimistic sentiment for job prospects, personal finances and spending intentions increased in nearly half of all measured markets.

Global consumer confidence declined one index point in the second quarter to a score of 96. Regionally, confidence continued to rise in Europe, increasing two points to 79. Confidence held stead in Asia-Pacific, but fell in the three remaining regions.

Global consumer confidence declined one index point in the second quarter to a score of 96. This near-baseline score reflects an overall stable outlook, but uneven performance at the country level increased within regions.

Global consumer confidence started 2015 with an index score of 97—an increase of one point from fourth-quarter 2014 and from a year-ago. Compared to the end of last year, when all regional confidence scores declined, the first quarter was more upbeat, as confidence increased slightly or remained stable in every region except Latin America.

Spend more than a few minutes in a conversation with someone in the CPG industry and you’ll almost inevitably find yourself discussing the spiraling cost of trade promotion. In Europe, decent returns on trade promotion spend are increasingly hard to generate. So how can we turn things around?

Imagine a grocery store where you can receive personal recommendations and offers the moment you step in the store, where checkout takes seconds and you can pay for groceries without ever taking out your wallet. Sound far-fetched? It’s closer than you think.

Advertisers try to make their ads hit home with audiences as much as possible—but there's room for improvement. Investing a little more heavily in determining how much ads resonate and working to improve campaigns accordingly have the potential to dramatically improve overall advertising effectiveness.

Global consumer confidence ended 2014 with an index score of 96—a decline of two index points from the previous quarter, which comes after several quarters of positive momentum. The index, which has been on a slow and steady rise for about two years, is still above a pre-recession level of 94 from third-quarter 2007.

We’ve just completed a year of transformation in the retail industry, and looking at 2015, it looks like change will remain constant. But change brings opportunity, even within the familiar. Where to begin? Look to the shelf.

Health and wellness are hot topics around the globe, and they have been for years. Despite the immense amount of attention devoted to the topic, however, the obesity rate is high—and rising. The good news, however, is that consumers around the world are taking steps to take charge of their health.

The Baby Boomer generation continues to play a major role in the housing market, as well as the U.S. economy more generally. Older households are less likely to move and purchase homes, but their sheer size and relative wealth means this generation will account for $1 out every $4 spent on new home purchases or rent in the next five years.

For over 50 years, there was only a single "app" for TV viewers. The sole function of that app—the cable or satellite company—was to stream premium video content. The facts of yesterday’s TV viewing no longer hold. There are now many TV viewing apps available. Enter "the appification of TV."

Perceptions about private-label brands are favorable around the world, but value shares are not correspondingly distributed; they are much higher in developed regions like Europe, North America and Australia.

All established companies must address a key challenge: How to find the next disruptive innovation while reacting to the disruptive innovations of others. To use the language of this year's TIBCO conference, how can one “ride the disruption wave”? Mitch Barns explores three things he's found that can play a big role.

The problem with brand value is simple: no one agrees on it. The GE brand value, for example, in 2011, was variously estimated to be worth $30.5B, $42.8B, and $50.3B by different valuation services. So if valuations vary so wildly, how can CMOs and CFOs begin to understand the value they deliver with their marketing spending?

Global consumer confidence edged up one index point in the third quarter to a score of 98—up from 97 in the previous quarter and up two points from the start of the year. The index, which has been on a slow and steady rise since Q1 2012, has now exceeded a pre-recession level of 94 for three consecutive quarters.

Today, a company’s reputation is increasingly recognized as a business asset that is central to maintaining and growing business value. Despite this recognition, however, corporate competencies around reputation measurement often lag. So “How do you measure corporate reputation?”

The ad industry has always been consumed with the latest trends. This should be no surprise, given that marketers and their agencies spend the better part of their days trying to create them. But nothing in advertising has generated more buzz in recent months than programmatic buying. Buying ad inventory more efficiently by applying rules to technology-enabled, automated purchases has marketers salivating.

Who doesn’t love a good snack? As snack manufacturers look to tailor offerings to deliver snacks that appeal to both the palate and the psyche, knowing what drives a consumer to pick one snack rather than another is vital to stay competitive in the $374 billion worldwide snacking industry.

Across the globe, shoppers are increasingly turning to the web to buy the things they need. But some categories are benefiting more than others. The online market for consumable goods—due to their hands-on buying nature and perishability—is comparably smaller than for non-consumables—durables and entertainment-realted products. Nevertheless, the global audience is willing and eager to shop the web.

Successful companies in the private sector have gained deep insight into consumer psychology and individual and collective decision-making. Public policy leaders and program managers can make use of these insights to improve significantly the likelihood of success in achieving their policy goals.

Earlier this week, I had the honor of participating in a panel at the Aspen Ideas Festival. The topic—“Global trends that will affect us all”—hit on the key issues that will shape our economies and cultures for the next 20 years.

Do consumers really care about conscious capitalism when it comes to buying decisions? Are they willing to pay more for products and services that come from companies that engage in actions that further some social good? For a growing number of consumers around the world, the answer is yes.

From power tools to bikes, to electronics and even to cars, people around the globe are leveraging the unused capacity of things they already own or services they can provide for a profit. Welcome to the share economy.

Around the globe, more consumers say they’re feeling confident. In the first quarter of 2014, global consumer confidence returned to a pre-recession level with an index score of 96—the highest score since first-quarter 2007. And there are other positive signs: perceptions of local job prospects improved in all regions except Latin America; recessionary sentiment improved in 68 percent of markets; and discretionary spending intentions increased in all regions.

In the banking realm, where engagement has historically taken place at teller counters, times are changing—and so are consumer banking preferences. And in that way, marketers should make a concerted effort to identify their customers before trying to reach them.

Once the novelty of retirement wanes, many retirees ask themselves: how do I fill the extra free time? Nearly half of all respondents (45%) in a Nielsen global survey of online consumers across 60 countries say that eating healthy is the most important priority after retirement. Other top priorities include staying physically and mentally fit (78%), spending time with family (58%) and maintaining an active social life (37%).

In the Siskel and Ebert era, two thumbs up didn’t just mean that a movie was good. It also meant the movie was worth seeing. Times have changed, and today, movie critics—professional and self-proclaimed—are using their thumbs in other ways to influence moviegoing decisions.

Not all consumers are created equal. In fact, some can be so meaningful from a sales and growth perspective that they’ve been upgraded to “super consumer” status by some researchers and industry observers who realize how meaningful this group can be to companies and brands.

With more people watching and buying online than ever before, advertisers are diving head first into digital to reach their audiences. Online advertising expenditures increased more than 25 percent (26.6%) year-over-year as of the second quarter of 2013 and exceeds several traditional media categories. But are these investments worth their price?

Seventy percent of consumers are already aware of “wearables,” and about one in six (15%) of them currently use wearable tech—such as smart watches and fitness bands—in their daily lives. With experts predicting wearable tech to be the next big thing in consumer electronics, what kinds of gadgets are consumers willing to wear?

The Hispanic radio audience is growing across the U.S., increasing by more than half a million listeners over the past year based on Nielsen’s March 2014 RADAR report. So where is this listening growth coming from?

Times are changing, and today’s digital world is having widespread effects on an array of consumer behaviors, including how we handle our finances. Electronics and mobility are key trends for financial institutions to keep track of, but consumers aren’t ready to sever all ties with their local bank branches just yet.

Three agents of change have affected food retailing in Europe over the last 20 years, and the effects of these factors have culminated in recent times to stifle growth. And how well the CPG industry, particularly in Western Europe, handles the next 12 months or more will hinge on how well companies learn to live with flat—or negative—sales volumes.

Much has been written about the growing wealth and income gap between America’s rich and poor. However, the wealth gap exists not just among individuals, but among entire communities. And we can anticipate where local consumer demand is headed by examining the state of local communities.

For small businesses, the need for a deeper understanding of its customers is growing, and big data can provide that critical insight. And in today’s competitive world, the local bakery needs more than just a fresh croissant waiting for Bill in the morning to keep him loyal.

Radio listeners come in all varieties, and so do their listening preferences. We know that listeners tune in at different times during the day, but we also know they tune in for different reasons. So a big part of radio programming involves determining how to cater to the broader audience while still focusing on core listeners.

There’s no denying the influence that e-commerce is having on the retail landscape, and that influence is starting to go mobile. And as that trend grows, marketers have an opportunity to leverage the influence of consumer preferences.

More than twice as many say people around the world say their ideal retirement age is younger (36%) than what they plan compared to those who say it’s older (17%). So what’s causing the disconnect between wanting and needing to stay employed as we age? It’s likely a matter of finances.

When it comes to measuring success in any industry, there’s no better indicator than sales. The music biz is no exception, as companies continue to worry about the sales cycles associated with specific music singles. When companies focus solely on sales, however, they may miss other opportunities—including the ability to build sales.

Competition for consumers’ wallets is gathering pace as the payment ecosystem evolves. Consumers have an array of choices and considerations at their fingertips, and individual consumer needs vary. Payment preference is not universal, and strategic marketers that know how to drive budding trends—particularly card usage—will be rewarded with loyalty.

Private brand sales accounted for $112 billion in 2013 but have increased just 1 share point since 2009. Amid private brands’ sluggish growth, however, the top 10 retailers have successfully tapped the segment's potential. So what is it about these 10 retailers that make them so successful?

From economics to quality of life, housing can tell us much about the state of Americans today. So having a clear sense of where this market is headed is crucial to understanding consumers. But what does the future hold?

Growing old is a fact of life, and most of us have at least a few concerns about how we’ll manage in our golden years. The biggest fears that the majority of us have pertain to not having the self-reliance it takes to care for our basic needs, losing our physical agility and declining mental competence. So how can industries help?

Sports fans love to follow their favorite games on TV, and their Twitter conversations speak volumes about how much they share their excitement with others. But we can see more than just how many Tweets they’re sending. We can now follow engagement and compare it with engagement levels for other program types.

During the bitter cold-spell sweeping much of the U.S. this winter, more Americans than usual turned to the Internet for entertainment. Four out of-5 U.S. web users access entertainment websites each month, and this January, 167 million Americans visited sites in the entertainment category.

Make no mistake, store brands aren’t what they used to be. Today, U.S. supermarket shoppers spend $1 of every $5 on store brands, and their sales are growing in just about every retail channel. And that spend is having a big impact.

The majority of men and women around the world don’t believe that the sexes are treated the same. And when making financial, technological and retail decisions, they're thinking—and acting—differently.

Despite e-commerce's momentous effect on shopping behavior, it's far from revolutionary; it’s simply an evolution. While many have recognized the opportunities created by new technology, some categories—like consumer packaged goods (CPG)—haven’t capitalized on e-commerce. Nevertheless, CPG manufacturers and retailers can boost sales by engaging with shoppers in new ways and providing unique shopping benefits through their online models.

In today’s digital and social media-driven world, consumers have the world at their fingertips, but are men and women’s fingers doing the same thing? A closer look highlights the differences between what engages men and women—as well as how they react (or don’t) along the way.

From Beck previewing his Morning Phase album for in-flight air travelers to hear via Gogo Inflight Internet before its formal release date to Bruce Springsteen streaming his recent Higher Hopes album more than a week before its release as a promotion for the TV show The Good Wife, there’s more to release dates than a specific date.

Innovation in how we measure mirrors a continuously evolving media landscape. And for the first time in a Cross-Platform Report, Nielsen has migrated the reporting of mobile use and mobile video use from survey-based insights to metered data through electronic mobile measurement.

There’s something interesting happening with men and women and shopping. Women’s incomes are rising around the world, making them a force to be reckoned with. And they’re using their newfound clout to influence purchasing decisions in categories once dominated by men.

Millennials are the social generation, both online and in-person. As the founders of the social media movement, they’re never more than a few clicks away from friends and family. And offline, they prefer to live in dense, diverse urban villages where social interaction is just outside their front doors.

Smartphone ownership grew to 68 percent between November and January 2014, up 9 percent from the start of 2013. And among those who bought their mobile phone within the last three months, a whopping 84 percent chose smartphones for their new handsets.

From TVs to tablets and digital to smartphones, technology is reshaping the way consumers engage with video and, in turn, how media and advertising companies do business. While the online and TV video ad markets will remain separate for the time being, the movement toward integration is real and accelerating.

The video landscape is in a time of major flux, with digital viewing on the rise, advertisers seeking integrated campaigns and yet TV networks still holding most of the cards. But with the emergence of new technologies—and new measurement capabilities—video advertising is poised for change.

Around the globe, aging consumers’ needs are not being fully met. One in five people will be 60 years or older by 2050, and there are regional differences that are important to consider when reaching this valuable consumer segment.

Findings from the Nielsen Global Survey about Aging highlight consumer concerns about growing old and how product and service manufacturers and retailers are meeting the challenges that can arise with age. The findings highlight an array of needed improvements, and the most compelling are included herein.

African-American consumers are more relevant than ever in today’s ever-shifting entertainment market—and their choices are affecting the whole entertainment industry. To capture this influential demographic’s attention, marketers must understand African Americans’ specific tastes and habits to provide content that best suits their interests and needs.

Based on 70 years of watching what consumers experience, and how they buy, how they act and what they do based on their consumption of content, we see a seismic shift coming in the next five years. Nowhere is this more acute than when it comes to television and video consumption.

As a major engine of the U.S. economy, the housing market is steadily watched and analyzed as a barometer for the general wellbeing of the country. Housing, however, isn’t just about economics—or even shelter. It’s a window into the lives of American consumers, and it provides insights that go well beyond home buying and price trends.

Much like the products we buy or the devices we prefer watching content on, services, too, tend to vary according to where we live. According to Nielsen’s 2014 Local Watch Report, this regional consumption of services plays a critical role in the type of healthcare consumers are receiving

While age is just a number, it’s becoming increasingly important to retailers, manufacturers and marketers as shifting population trends favor the elderly. According to new findings from Nielsen, however, industries are largely unprepared to meet the needs of aging consumers.

While the book industry is no stranger to change, the written word remains popular. In 2013, physical book sales stayed strong, with print book consumption only declining slightly from the year before. And while e-book growth slowed and the market has now matured, the innovation is far from over.

2013 was a solid year for the home entertainment industry, as consumer spending across all home entertainment platforms increased by nearly 1 percent—the second straight year of growth in consumer spending on home entertainment.

The world’s population is getting older and many consumers say the world isn’t prepared for the shift. According to the World Health Organization, 2 billion people will be at least 60 years old by 2050, which raises questions and concerns for consumers as well as industries.

Smartphones are beginning to transform how we engage in our everyday lives. Only a few years ago, they were still the minority of mobile phones around the globe, but already they’re beginning to transform how we engage in our everyday lives. Today, they have a much more dominant presence.

Mobile shopping is gaining momentum among U.S. consumers, particularly as smartphone penetration continues to grow and tablet ownership gains in popularity. From researching to price comparing to making purchasing, consumers are steadily increasing their e-commerce prowess via their mobile devices.

To everything there is a season, and the music industry is no different. From holiday hits to summer jams, music trends vary with the weather. And understanding such trends can be crucial to success for artists, retailers and labels. So is there a “perfect” time to release a new album?

The start of a new year inevitably brings new resolutions and, for many, attempts to counter the effects from the holidays. It’s the same for many audio formats, which feel the impact of holiday programming on ratings from Thanksgiving until New Year’s. Radio programmers are now seeing those trends reverse in the results from the first post-holiday ratings book in Nielsen’s portable people meter (PPM) markets.

It takes a lot to define a generation, and no two generations are alike. As much of the world is watching the second-youngest generations develop and become full-fledged consumers, marketers are placing more and more emphasis on how to engage with them. Most are children of Baby Boomers, and all are eager to carve out a unique identity as they come of age.

It takes a lot to define a generation, and no two generations are alike. As much of the world is watching the second-youngest generations develop and become full-fledged consumers, marketers are placing more and more emphasis on how to engage with them. So who are they and why are marketers and brands getting to know them?

How can companies rise above the clutter online and on store shelves to capture an audience that is bombarded with options? It’s all about keeping up with—and in many cases, staying ahead of—consumers. And despite the myriad challenges, it’s not as hard as you think. Consumers are more engaged than ever in this hyper-connected world, and a little innovation and effort to reach them where they already are can bring big results.

Love is in the air and in the entertainment aisle. So as we celebrate Valentine’s Day, let’s look at how romance influences music, books and home entertainment—as well as how consumers respond and engage with it—even on days other than Feb 14.

The 15-second ad is already “the new black,” but it has yet to achieve the same level of audience engagement as its longer predecessors. That said, advertisers must now explore this new frontier further to make short-form ads more effective, regardless of the platform.

It’s no secret that Americans love sports. But much like real relationships, this amour is a sometimes complicated dance between fans, teams and players that can bring immense joy or deep heartbreak. No matter what, however, the love and desire for viewing sports content endures all—even the agony of defeat.